6 Amazing Sources of Practice Data Sets

Team Jigsaw12 Apr 2016

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Analytics theories and methods? Check.

Grasp of concepts? Check.

Practice data sets? Go ahead and check this off your list too!

The best way to put your newly acquired skills to the test is to experiment with publicly available data sets. A great way to vet your analytics skills, this could be your first foray into the messy world of ‘real’ data.

Don’t know where to find publicly available datasets? Well, fret not because we have done the work for you. Below is a list of excellent data sources that you can happily cut your teeth on!

The US Census Bureau collects census information once every 10 years. Once you head to the link, click on the ‘Topics’ tab at the top and you will see sub-tabs containing titled ‘population’, ‘economy’, ‘demographics’, ‘income’ and more. Each of these tabs will lead you to an abundance of data to play with.

What do the demographics data tell you about the relationship between poverty and race in the world’s only remaining superpower? What can you learn about immigration patterns over the past 50 years in different regions of the country? Are there any noticeable differences in the per capita income from the previous census? You can set yourself the task of figuring out answers to these and many other intriguing questions.

India’s 2011 Census Report, which contains population data disaggregated by age, gender, income, and housing. Sink your teeth into data that only the world’s largest democracy—and second most populous country—can afford you!

How has the sex ratio of the country changed? How does each state compare on the literacy front? Have there been any changes in rural fertility rates over the years? Now you can find the answers to such questions on your own!

Ever been stranded at the airport wondering when your flight is actually going to take off? How often have your flights been delayed? You can get detailed reports on this and other parameters at the above links. Now you have something to do the next time you are stuck in an airport lobby with nothing fun to do!

The World Bank works to eradicate extreme poverty and promote income growth, and in this endeavour, they have an amazing repository of data across a variety of indicators that are a joy to work with. You can access data by country, and topics such as the economy, education, healthcare, trade, development etc. Boy talk about choice!

UC Irvine is a prestigious American university whose Centre for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems is a repository of multivariate, univariate, text, spatial, and domain-theory data sets that are freely available to the general public.

These are just some of the many interesting data banks out there that are just waiting to be explored. Need more? You can find what you’re looking for at the following links. Go crazy!

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Jigsaw Academy is a global award-winning online analytics and big data training provider. We are a group of data scientists and educators who are on a mission to train the next generation of analytics practitioners.